A Newcastle shop has been handed a three month closure notice for causing anti-social behaviour by selling ‘legal highs’.

Best-one on Beaconsfield Street, Arthur’s Hill was given the notice by Newcastle Magistrates Court after it was told nearby residents “feared for themselves and their children” due to people taking the substances and walking the streets.

John Stirland, who was defending shop owners Abbas Gohar and his wife Rani Gohar, said that there had been a “witch hunt” amid an increasing number of incidents in the west end of Newcastle.

The court was told that Northumbria Police had visited the Best-one store on a number of occasions in the lead up to a temporary closure notice being issued on Sunday.

Officers had spoken with staff about the sale of the substances and had questioned at least 12 people who were entering or leaving the shop about legal highs.

The court also heard that on one occasion officers had spoken with Mr Gohar and had asked him directly to stop selling the substances, a demand which they said he “ignored”.

Hayley Hebb, prosecuting on behalf of Northumbria Police, said: “The use of the premises namely for the sale of legal highs has resulted in serious issues of disorder.

“Residents fear for themselves and their children when walking past the shop.”

Defending, Mr Stirland said: “The problem of legal highs is one that should be addressed by the government, not by the police through the back door.

“This business is selling a legal product. Would police ask the same questions in relation to cottage cheese?”

Mrs Goah, who has been running and working in the shop with her father and husband since 1974, disagreed that the sale of legal highs was causing problems in the area.

She said: “We are a shop and we provide a service to the public, if people ask for something we try to assist them with that.

“This is a legal product, we are not the only shop selling it and we feel that we are being picked on and harassed by the police.”

Mrs Goah added that the items were sold only to regular customers, some as old as 50, who used them for “relaxation”.

However the court rejected Mrs Goah’s justification and said that the substances being sold by the shop were resulting in anti social behaviour in the community.

As well as the three month closure order, the owners were also ordered to pay £710 in costs.

In a statement read outside court the couple said: “Having ran this business for 42 years without any problems with the police we are deeply disappointed by the use of this draconian power and we will be appealing the decision with the court.”